Palestinians in Gaza pray for Eid al-Fitr amidst ruins. Read the latest on the 75,000+ death toll, ongoing ceasefire violations, and the reality of the genocide.
Gaza, Palestine — March 7, 2026
While Muslims around the world gather in joyous celebration for Eid al-Fitr, the scene in the Gaza Strip is one of profound sorrow and unimaginable resilience. Families gathered on the sand and amidst the ruins of destroyed neighborhoods to perform their Eid prayers, surrounded by the devastation of an ongoing military offensive that international human rights organizations and UN experts have widely condemned as a genocide.
The human cost of the conflict has reached staggering proportions. According to health authorities, the death toll has now surpassed 75,000 Palestinians killed since the escalation began on October 7, 2023.
Even a nominal ceasefire agreement has failed to stop the bloodshed. Reports indicate that Israel has broken the ceasefire hundreds of times, conducting over 700 attacks since the truce went into effect. These ongoing violations have resulted in the deaths of at least 677 Palestinians during a period that was supposed to bring a cessation of hostilities.
For the residents of Gaza, the holiday is marked not by celebration, but by grief and absence. Speaking from the prayer gathering, a grieving Palestinian woman captured the devastating reality on the ground:
"What atmosphere, my mother? Where is the atmosphere?" she cried. "The atmosphere of this Eid is that one lost his father, one lost his mother, one lost his brother, and a whole family was lost in Gaza. Families were wiped out. Children wiped out under the rubble until now. Where is the atmosphere of Eid? The smile on the faces of children is not there. Today you find a child smiling at you, but unfortunately, inside him is the blackness of the night. He lost his father; the child today, even the infant, until now cannot find his father".
Despite the overwhelming tragedy, the community remains unbroken. Addressing the thousands of worshippers sitting on prayer mats spread over the sand, a local Imam delivered a powerful message of endurance:
"Our message on this day to our Palestinian people and our Arab and Islamic nation, we say Happy Eid, and our Jerusalem, our Al-Aqsa, our resistance, and our people are well," he declared. "We affirm that our Palestinian people, who are subjected to a war of extermination [genocide] today, affirm their steadfastness, their firmness, to continue the march, and that the war of extermination will not break the will of this Palestinian people".
As the international community watches, the people of Gaza continue to endure. Their Eid prayers, echoing through shattered streets and makeshift tent camps, stand as a testament to an unyielding faith and a demand for justice that refuses to be silenced by the rubble.